Fire Emblem: Ruins of War
by KingKoronda
Summary: The King of Aronia has given up hope, his miserable state has left Ariana on the throne to face the destruction that the six year war had caused, but when the Fallen conquerors lost legion attempts to claim their kingdom for themselves, peace isn't an option anymore. yet can Ariana set aside her visions of the past in order to guide her kingdom for a better future?
1. Chapter 1: The Crimson Marauders

"Princess Ariana, Sir Cooper left this for you."

The man in armor left a packet on the table next to Ariana's desk. The room well lit By the open window. She nodded to the man before opening it up, It contained a thorough and detailed report on A group of brigands that had been hassling The town recently. Provided by none other than her childhood friend Cooper Dozzi, Or more commonly referred to as Sly. A self proclaimed 'Gentleman Thief' but in reality, he was the biggest oddball she'd ever met. though after the war ran it's course, Cooper lent his 'talents' to the cause as a scout, reporting sightings of brigands and bandits, chasing down more common thieves, and supplying reports on the larger, more organized groups.

The group in question had attacked The town outside the castle twice in the past week, each raid involved fifteen basically trained brigands, Though according to the report, their total numbers were in the lower twenties, meaning some of them had been in both attacks, What really caught Her interest was their Leader, According To Cooper, their Leader was Donavan Gurun. A former Escalean general, Who had abandoned his position, taking a few soldiers with him, and created His group, the "Crimson Marauders". As uncreative as it sounded, they were very threatening. murdering seven Civilians and tearing down buildings that were still in the process of reconstruction. Costing Aronia precious lives, gold, and materials, presumably lost to the fire. On the last page of the report it was documented that their base of operations was hardly three miles away. and they were prepared to strike, when they would was unknown. After closing the report and tucking it onto her shelf, she left, she was already late for the strategy meeting.

Ariana pushed The door to to the meeting room open, The familiar group of faces turned to greet her.

"Princess Ariana, I assume that you will be taking your fathers place once again?"

Ariana's father, the King had participated in the six year war from start to finish. even participating in the attack on The Aerie Fortress, Crohathas capital building, With the Goddess at his side. It had been proven that that was there when The Goddess had fallen. King Zael had been the only soldier to return from The Aerie Fortress, He had even brought back the Very Lance That the Goddess had used in both scripture and reality, Proof of the Goddess's demise.

"Yes, yes I will."

The Man at the front of the table, the general of Aronia's forces, Edo Senforth, nodded to her, one of the kings closest friends.

"while I am on the topic, Is the King faring any better?" Ariana simply shook her head,

"He has made no progress towards recovery..."

Ariana's father had returned alive from the war, which overjoyed the citizens, But rather than take the throne back from his daughter, who at the time was still but a child. He was distant, sorrowful, and dismissive, leaving the few people who had survived the war to look to Ariana for leadership. Which proved difficult for both the people and the frail Child.

"That is unfortunate, But we must continue on without his highness then..."

* * *

During the meeting, they discussed several things, how to make up for the lost materials from the raids, Which they more than gladly left to Their convoy manager Thade, last name unknown, he volunteered to make up for the lost lumber on his personal time. Then the meeting turned to what they should do about the Crimson Marauders, This is where the meeting got interesting, debates over letting them be and forcing them out of Aronian territory. After hours of incessant arguing, They came to the conclusion of driving them away forcefully, and to do it before nightfall. Meaning a full mobilization. With that, the meeting ended and Ariana retreated to her quarters. She immediately started to prepare for the march on the marauders, She was mostly equipped when she heard a knock on the door, Before she could respond the door swung open.

"Evening Silver Bell!"

The quirky thief himself had picked her lock and entered once again.

"Sly, what have I told you about asking before entering? what If I wasn't dressed?"

Sly flung himself into her desk chair, helping himself to the papers in the cupboards.

"Well then I'd walk in on something sweet."

Ariana lowered her eyes at Sly in a piercing glare as he went through her desk.

"It was a joke. Ooh, you went through my report, did you like it?"

Ariana snapped her gauntlets on before reaching over his shoulder to grab her glasses.

"I didn't have time to 'enjoy' it, I had to rush to the meeting, which you missed, again... for the record, we're going on the offensive, I'd suggest that instead of bothering me, you go get ready."

Sly, clearly hearing this for the first time scrambled out of the room spewing excuses, once he left, Ariana closed the door, Looking to her window she plucked a flower from the potted plant and placing it just above her ear. A red Annual, her favorite. as she turned to leave she noticed the familiar weight of her fathers rapier at her hip, a gift from before the war. a small spark of sorrow sank into her from the memory.

The army had mobilized in the city square, well, army was an overstatement, there were ten well-trained militants in total. Among the group was Sly, who had somehow managed to change into his cloth armor and join the group in a matter of twenty minutes. and Edo, who was leading the force, and not to his surprise, Ariana was taking her father's place once more on the front lines.

"All present and accounted for general. shall we move out?"

Edo nodded to Thade and pulled his axe off his back, driving his spurs into his steeds side, setting it in motion.

"We shall, we leave through the south entrance. It's a half hour march, get ready everyone. Especially you milady."

Edo glanced at Ariana as he said that. Not surprising in the slightest considering her title. They were halfway to the south entrance when Edo stopped, checking his surroundings quickly he shouted to the group

"They beat us here! To arms!"

Edo rode to the left out of Ariana's field of vision. Then Ariana saw them, The Crimson Marauders were already inside the city and they had them surrounded. Drawing her rapier she followed after Edo, Hoping to air on the side of caution.

* * *

Even staying close to Edo, Ariana spilt her fair share of blood during the battle, So far her body count was up to six. Splitting off from Edo She had taken down a myrmidon and a fighter with ease, Her Rapier was still in fine condition. Out of the corner of her eye She saw an archer taking aim at her, she had to quickly leap to the side in order to avoid the oncoming Arrow, and despite her speed, The arrow blew her glasses off base, adjusting them quickly she gave chase to the archer, refusing to give him the space and the time to shoot another arrow. Ariana closed the distance quickly and silenced the Archer. Drawing the rapier out of his body, She felt a slight breeze behind her, her instincts took over and could just barely raise her rapier fast enough to catch the axe before it split her skull. She felt her mind slow down as she took it in. The axe was made of strong and durable steel, something that none of the marauders that she had seen had been in possession of. She ground the gears in her head and she put the pieces together, she had just been put up against the leader of The Marauders himself, Donavan Gurun.

"Would ya look at this? The pretty Princess has come out to play~"

The axe wielder Laughed as he swung his axe at her repeatedly using only his left hand.

"It's a shame I'm going to have to break such a pretty face!"

Ariana was barely able to catch the axe this time, her arms hurt on the impact, and she couldn't react in time when Donavan's right arm swung around and slammed directly into her nose, stumbling back against the beam of a building in the process of reconstruction. Ariana's vision darkened significantly, and her nostrils were filled with an unfamiliar, Metallic scent, Pressing her gauntlet to her face and pulling it away, there was a large red spot sliding down the metal. Blood, Looking up she saw Donavan Swinging the axe sideways at her. she slipped to her Left, the Axe breaking through the beam, Ariana landed in a crouch, but much to her dismay the building above her head collapsed, sending wooden beams and broken fragments of the stone wall above her. She tried standing up but her leg was pinned. Her glasses had fallen off and shattered. Looking up at Donovan she could barely see that had already grabbed his Axe, spinning it around in his hand in a show-boding manner.

"Enjoy your beauty sleep Princess!"

He was just raising the axe over his head when a slip of metal crossed her line of sight, a tiny knife had just slit Donavans cheek, following it's arc, Ariana saw Cooper standing in the entrance to the Alleyway.

"Miserable pests, interfering with our plans!"

Turning his attention to Cooper, he stormed after the thief. Ariana wanted to yell to him, tell him to run and get Edo, that he was outmatched in every way but the blood from her nose fell into her mouth, cutting her off, she had to spit it out, Ariana tried to pull her leg free, but she couldn't get any purchase on it. She turned back to Cooper, no use, everything she tried was hopeless, she looked down at her hands, she tried to grab a stone and throw it, but she froze, unable to move, she couldn't hear anything clearly, and her vision was fading...

* * *

"Gerard! Run! You couldn't possibly defeat him! Flee While you can!"

Ariana's vision focused, but in an odd way, she felt like she was spectating an event, she couldn't move, looking forward, she saw a scene very similar to the one she had been in, An older woman with pure silver hair was trapped underneath a crumbled market stall, there was food and jewelery scattered everywhere. She could only move her left arm and it was clear that her right one was broken. In front of her was an equally as old man, wielding a green tome as he dueled with a Sword master,

"Lady Candesca, I cannot! Your life is far more important than mine"

The duel lasted several minutes, but in the end, the sword master landed a slash across the man's chest, presumably Gerard, and he fell to the ground, the blood pooling around his body, The sword master turned to his side and ran when a very large man bearing an Axe across his back entered the frame, instead of giving chase, he stopped and pulled the woman, Candesca, from the rubble, carrying her easily over her shoulder. out of the frame, the woman crying, staring at the corpse of The sage, still bleeding. Then Ariana's vision faded to black and zoned out

* * *

Ariana came to and was able to witness the end of the fight between Cooper and Donavan. Cooper was holding his own using his sheer speed, but when Donovan kicked Cooper in the ribs, he collapsed almost immediately, Donovan raised his axe over his head with both hands, ready to finish Cooper. It was almost identical to what she had seen in that vision. Ariana looked away, not wanting to see her best friends death. She cringed, awaiting the sound of metal tearing through flesh. It never came, but what she did hear was the sound of metal on metal, looking up, she expected to see Edo with his own axe confronting Donovan in an even match, but what she saw was even more surprising, the massive form of Donovan, putting every ounce of his strength into a final blow, had been not blocked, but caught, by a young Man of average build, zoning in again, she could see that the man had a light suit of armor, with older looking gauntlets, which must have been made of sturdy material in order to catch the solid steel axe. Looking up she saw that The Man had blue eyes, Just like hers, and looking even higher she saw that the man had dark blue hair, which was unheard of in Aronia, the man pushed back against the axe, the gauntlet making a spark against the steel. The man looked back at Cooper before saying in an unfitting deep voice

"Are you just going to lay there or are you going to get her out!"

Cooper nodded and sprinted over to Ariana, tossing stone and board to the side rapidly, Ariana leapt up as soon as she could move her foot, not minding the dry blood on her lip, she picked up the rapier that had fallen in front of her and ran blindly over to Donovan and the mysterious man. Catching the mans eye he sprung into action, he tore the axe from Donavans hand and tossed it skyward with an underhand toss. When Donavan looked up to try to grab it, The man took a step forward and slammed his hand into Donavan's throat, with enough force to break a wall, sending him stumbling backwards, right into Ariana's path. Ariana then turned on her heel and swiped backwards, the sharp edge of the rapier slipping right through Donavans armor and body, cleaving his heart in twain before they both skidded to a stop. Donavan collapsing to the ground, unmoving. Cooper then ran up to them.

"Ariana are you alright, your nose!"

Before she could respond she noticed that her vision was being seen through a panel of red, their words escaped her as she heard a hollow buzzing, Bloodloss was finally getting the better of her, and it was going to hit her hard. her vision went black and she felt the ground spin, losing her balance, the last thing she felt was the sharp pain of her skull hitting a brick before she faded away.


	2. Chapter 2: Supporting Oneself

Ariana's thoughts kept returning to the vision that she had seen. It felt more like reality then the state she was in... those names... Gerard and Candesca... She had heard of a Gerard who took part in the war, but Candesca on the other hand, she could not recall... odd... Such a unique name would have stuck in her head. Before she could make any progress on determining either of the characters identities, she heard a loud crack. She opened her eyes and sat up with a start.

"Augh!"

She clutched her nose in pain, immediately regretting it, the tender flesh burned at the contact. Removing her hand she saw that there wasn't any blood, she sighed in relief as she looked back at the group who had been circling her, the familiar face of Edo, still expressionless, and Cooper, who was laughing hysterically. Thade was at her side, just latching his staff to his back.

"Well that takes care of that, does your leg hurt at all?" Thade asked warmly.

Ariana could barely see her surroundings, her glasses had been destroyed when the building collapsed on her. looking over to Edo, he handed her her spare pair. "I can't say it does, No." Thade nodded and returned his heal staff to his side "Excellent, We'll be heading back now." Getting a hand up from Cooper she followed the group back to the castle.

Cooper wasted no time in supplying a report on the attack. They were lucky to mobilize at the same point of time that they did, The Marauders had been planning an ambush on the Material carts returning to town, But Edo had noticed their positioning quickly. According to the report however, The entire group had partaken, and the few survivors had been apprehended, The cleanup took two hours, and Ariana had been unconscious for three... of course, leave it to Cooper to make her look better, according to the report the rubble had smashed her nose as opposed to Donavan. Though She wasn't sure if he had known it himself. The Few surviving marauders were to be given trial. Both Edo and Thade would have to be in presence for that, and Cooper was going to go tail another group of thieves during his spare time, Which Left Ariana Alone for the rest of the day. With A grin, she turned on her heel and walked away from the castle.

Ariana pushed open the door to the Library swiftly, nodding to the female librarian as she walked through the aisles, running her hands over each individual books spine, the rough texture of the leather oddly stimulating to her. Searching around quickly for anything that looked interesting, knowing that at this time of day nobody would be wasting their time here, which meant more space for her. Grabbing a novel off of a high shelf she walked over to the back of the Library, much to her surprise there were several belongings sprawled over the table she always sat at. The most eye catching one was a book with only one side of the paper written on, turning the cover she saw that it was A tome, oddly it was colored blue, and the ink was still wet. She turned around and checked the aisles of the library, the only person there was the Librarian. Deciding to simply take the next book in her favorite series, she rented it out and opened the door, the streets were their normal hustle and bustle. Choosing her next stop, she walked back into town with a smile.

* * *

At Edo's insistence, Thade was to accompany him to the Armory, "to give him a refresher" he said, the much younger Sage was starting to really get sick of playing the assistant manager to him was really getting old. toning Edo out as he once again rambled on about how important it is to make sure everything's in order and blah blah blah. Thade began absentmindedly spinning the globe on his staff, he stopped it as he felt a small crack as his fingers ran across the smooth surface, slipping away during Edo's nonstop speech he went through the staves replacing his simple heal staff for a mend, then deciding to replenish his Arcfire before rejoining Edo, who still hadn't noticed his short disappearance.

"Would you like to hear that again Thade?"

"No! I-I mean no thanks."

Edo gave him an exasperated sigh before he walked down their line of weapons racks, testing a silver axes weight in his palm before setting it back in place, doubling back to straighten it. danged perfectionist. Thade turned and started counting out the tomes, based on color and size he could tell which one each of them were. it seemed they still had plenty for both drills and battles.

"Thade..."

Edo turned to Thade with a tad of sadness painted across his face before looking back at the glass case at the back of the row, oh. this again, Thade joined Edo's side as he glared at the unusual weapon inside of the glass case, It was a lance, but it looked more like an Axe with a sword sticking out of the top, but instead of looking like three weapons strapped together, it was so natural, it looked like it simply belonged.

"The Gradivus, lance of the Goddess"

Thade was familiar with the story, at the bleakest point of the war, when the defense was at their lowest point, grieving the dead was a normal thing to do during periods of safety, as few as they were, Edo would know more about that, he was one of the few Defenders still alive after the war. At one point in approximately year four of the war, the small group personally led by the king had decided to spend a night or two of rest inside of a ruined church a few miles behind the border between Crohatha and Escalea, yet the border meant nothing, Crohathan and Escalean forces were spread so thin that there were no lines anymore. just whatever forces were there at the given moment. So many Lives had been lost, too many to count, the areas closer to the border were utterly destroyed, even the Escalean Estates, where the lords and Ladies lived years prior, had fallen to their forces pushes. Edo had taken watch that night, she had been the first to see her, she literally glowed in the moonlight, demanding she show herself, she simply approached one of the statues inside of the church, an accurate likeness in nearly everyway, except that the statues arm had been destroyed.

"This has gone unchecked for far too long."

according to Edo, her voice rang with an Authority that even made the king tremble, she picked her Lance of her back and pointed it towards him.

"If you will have me, I shall do my part in ending this travesty, before it is too late.

It was by no means a difficult decision, the goddess had joined the Fray, and she led them all the way to The Crohathans final stand, The Aerie Fortress, where she faced Defeat at the hands of an unknown adversary, despite the loss, the war was ended, it was a story that would be told for ages to come. and It was a story that Ariana enjoyed very much.

"Edo, I've heard only Rumors... but Even you can't properly wield it... correct?"

Edo shook his head "I cannot, it is a weapon that no person in Aronia can wield properly, It is quite frustrating for a Knight such as myself."

Thade glanced at the great knight, the frustration on his face more than Evident, taking the opportunity to get out of Stocking.

"Well, it looks like you'd want to be left alone, I guess I'll just go."

Thade shut the door quickly before Edo could protest, launching himself up the stairs quickly, but one thought turned in his head that he couldn't toss aside in his carefree nature, If nobody could use the damned thing, then why bother keeping it. Bah, doesn't matter. He clambered up the last flight of stairs and opened the door ready to enjoy his newly cleared out schedule.

* * *

Ariana had just come back from her little Spree... and by little, she meant a grand total of five hours. She went out for a meal, got a new potted plant and gotten her hair trimmed and cleaned... she felt great! She had set the blue flowers next to her other Red Annual, when she turned, she felt her hair get pulled to the side by the momentum... she smiled a little, she hadn't been in such a great mood in such a long time. She turned and left her room, sliding down the railing to the great hall, stopping a random Maid carrying a tray in her tracks.

"Oh! hello Milady, don't you just seem full of energy?" The maid turned to face her with a smile, her green hair matching her expression nicely.

"Hey Tawny!" she slipped off the railing few feet in front of her. sliding to a stop she beamed at her. "is that todays catch?"

Ariana loved teasing Tawnya, she was a hunter who had taken up work in the castle. she had been the one serving the meals to both her and her Dad for the past year, and on special occasions, Tawnya would go out and catch their meals, from fish to venison, and Arianas Favorite, a few herbs for a wild salad. A nature freak in every way, Tree hugging Huntress, a crack shot with a bow as well. Ariana had invited her to help with incidents like with the Brigands from before, but she was extremely hesitant to shoot at humans.

"Your nose looks so much better Milady, I assume you've rested it well?"

"Yeah, It's back to the way it was. Thanks for the Salve by the way. Ah! Don't try to hide it, I know it was you, Cooper told me."

Tawny Froze, mouth open and finger raised, about to object before she was cut-off. She lowered her finger and sighed softly.

"Cooper... of course... anyways, I was just Taking The King his dinner."

Ariana rocked on her heels for a second. "you know what, Let me, I wanna pay him a visit."

"A-are you sure? Milady It's my duty too-"

Ariana cut her off by knocking the tray out of her arms with her Elbow, catching it in her arms. "Consider this a day off, go take a load off, visit your cousin, I'm sure he's dying to see you again."

Tawnya sighed and crossed her arms. "Fine, I'll spend the day with Cooper, but you SO owe me."

* * *

Ariana smiled at her as she left and took the tray up the stairs, judging by the weight, it was a meal for two, That sneaky little cousin of a thief. She had planned it from the start. not that she cared, she was going to spend time with Zael, no, Dad. and it was long overdue. She marched up the stairs with a new found confidence, nodding to the other workers as she walked past, she stopped in front of her fathers door. she felt all of that confidence disappear. it had been so long since she had been face to face... much less a heart to heart.

"No... I'm just over thinking it."

She pushed the door open slowly, then pressing her back against it to push it the rest of the way.

"Good evening Father, It's nice to see you once aga- ag... DAD!"

Ariana froze in place for a few seconds, the tray still in her arms, dangling from the rafters above her in front of the bed was a length of Rope tied in a noose, her fathers body still swaying, sputtering could be heard from it. Her heart began to Race, she acted before she could think, she tipped the tray on it's side, sending its contents sprawling, she ran up to her dad and pushed up with the Tray, lifting his body just enough to loosen the rope.

"Help! anybody please! Help us!"

Ariana couldn't keep the hold, she could barely keep her arms up, her fathers weight was too much, she felt her shoulders start to droop, "no! Help!" she started to cry. "Anyone please!" she pushed up as hard as she could, she saw a single flash of green through her tear filled eyes and the weight collapsed on her, she sat up with a start and grabbed her father, he wasn't moving, but he was breathing... barely...

"Oh Dad... Why?!" She wrapped her arms around the his shoulders and sobbed.

"Cooper, Get Edo!"

Looking Over her shoulder she saw Tawnya, Cooper, and Thade crowding the doorway, nodding quickly, Cooper turned and ran out of the room, Thade taking Ariana's side as he drew his heal staff, hovering it over her Father while Tawnya grabbed her shoulder and pulled her into a sympathetic hug.

"It's going to be alright... Calm down..."

But Ariana knew the truth, It was far from alright... and from here on out... it never would be. she just wept into her friends shoulder, eagerly awaiting it all to end, no matter how pointless that may be.


	3. Chapter 3: Fits of Anger and Destruction

"It's better this way, no more sorrow, no more pain."

"You can't lift it, but you can end it."

"They won't have to worry anymore."

These thoughts were all Zael could think about as his fingers tied the rope around the rafter, standing precariously on the edge of the bed, stepping down to gaze at his work... It was truly depressing. he looked down at his arm, disgusted, he pulled the sleeve down. he wasn't going to worry about that anymore. He was going to be released from the pain, he stepped onto the small table underneath the hanging rope, pulling it down around his neck, he stopped for only a few seconds. no, it was for the best. he stepped back and kicked the table across the room, he felt himself drop, finally, an end to his suffering.

"Augh! Gack!"

Zael clutched at the rope around his neck, this wasn't supposed to happen! His neck was being constricted by the rope, he hadn't dropped far enough, it was so simple, he felt the blood flow to his head slowing down and his vision began to fade. He turned to look out the window the beautiful view outside, now at a new perspective from his higher elevation, looking down he saw the bright green flash of the Maid in the Kitchen, presumably bringing up his last meal. So she would be the one to discover his body. he looked up a little. seeing the familiar red flowers in his daughters room, he started to fall into a state of unconsciousness, wait, what was that. a small blur of pink set another plant next to the red ones, they turned and moved, the shiny brown locks being pulled out the window. His Daughter... he had forgotten his daughter...

"No... what have I done..."

He watched the world around him turn black, now regretting his selfish choice. a dark cackling filling his ears.

* * *

Zael felt his head being lifted into a sitting position as he awoke. He was Alive? How? He opened his eyes reluctantly to see Edo placing a pillow behind him, Edo jumped back startled by the movement Edo jumped back and reached for a weapon that simply wasn't there.

"Edo, calm down..."

"Milord... I-I am not the one who needs to calm down." Edo looked down at the ground in sadness.

"What do you mean?" Zael stood up, confused by the meaning. "Who are you talking about, WHAT are you talking about!"

Zael stood up, ignoring the bruising around his throat and grabbed Edo by the shoulder, turning his hand over his heart sunk, a small red flower fell to the ground. Edo looked up at him with a lost respect.

"She saved your life... and she isn't faring too well herself."

Damn! of all the blasted things that could happen. why Ariana, In his selfishness, he overlooked those closest to him, he had forgotten about Edo, and he had forgotten his own flesh and blood.

"I'm going to go see her."

Zael turned on his heel. before being stopped by Edo in the doorway.

"Milord, I can't let you leave without explaining yourself. Why would you do this!"

This was unexpected, his personal adviser and friend Edo was showing expression for what was quite possibly the first time. and it was sheer Anger. Zael groaned and ducked under his shoulder walking up the stairway.

"You know exactly why Edo. and I'm sorry."

* * *

Tawnya had shed her maids headband and had opted for her bow, she planned on inviting Cooper to go hunting like they used too, but lo and behold, the shit hit the fan... She had arrived just in time to shoot the rope out of the rafters. since then, she had taken Ariana back to her room and was comforting her while Cooper and Thade took care of everything there. Thade was just as serious as her boss when he wanted too. but for now, she was just staying with Ariana until she could calm down. which wasn't gonna be anytime soon. she had been sobbing for an hour before she literally cried herself to sleep, she had awoken since then and was in a sad state.

"Would you like anything to drink?"

Ariana shook her head, no longer crying, but still visibly red.

"No. I'm fine... Just need to calm down."

Tawnya nodded and turned toward the door, as she reached for the handle, it swung open, Tawnya could barely jump back in time as it swung open.

"Ari?"

Tawnya didn't even have to look at the person in the doorway to know who it was, and it was about to get way too awkward for her tastes. She slipped out after the King walked in, closing the door behind her and leaning against the wall in the hallway, leave the Daddy Daughter antics to the people who still have dads...

"Tawnya!"

She turned to her side where Thade had just whipped around the corner, Though he slipped and continued along the other pathway until she heard a loud crash, rolling her eyes as Thade came back around the turn.

"Tawnya!" Thade collapsed at her feet, having ran all the way to the top floor. "Wheres his Majesty!"

Tawnya tilted her head toward Ariana's door, causing Thade to press his hand to the bridge of his nose, before sighing a strange "phhh" sound.

"You are a COWARD!"

Both Tawnya and Thade jumped at the sound of breaking glass from behind the door, along with more incessant yelling coming from the Princess, along with several thwarted attempts by the King to calm her down, which resulted poorly. this continued for far too long, yet neither Tawnya or Thade wanted to open the door and release the beast that is a pissed off princess...

"so..."

Thade broke the silence as he was sitting against the area where the floor met the wall, his hand on his knee, his dirty blonde hair still ruffled from his slip earlier. recalling it made Tawnya laugh a little under her breath.

"It wasn't that funny..." Thade looked up at her, she cocked an eyebrow at him, her bow still slung over her shoulder. "Alright maybe a bit..."

They both laughed until the door was thrown open, the princess, who was ironically shorter than them both, stomped out of the room, wearing her battle attire, still perfectly polished from before, now had a small dent on her lower ribcage, before her father could follow she slammed the door shut. Glancing t the two of them before simply walking away like nothing ever happened. Sliding the door open, they looked in on the panting man inside.

"She's... whoo... gotten stronger... and more short tempered..."

"Well can you blame her?"

* * *

The Librarian flipped the pages of the first in a new shipment of books, the excuse was to 'proof' read them, but she was a quick reader, and the new shipment was small. glancing out the Window she saw how dark it was getting, pulling her cloak on as she resumed reading. or at least until her door opened and a man with blue Hair came back inside.

"I heard there was a huge Ruckus outside, I assume you couldn't resist not getting involved?" The Crimson haired librarian glanced up at him.

"Oh Laugh it up, You know I can't understand what your saying..."

Ah Yes, Asis, pronounced like a spring in a desert had shown up a week prior, and thanks to her generous offer to let him stay in the library, she had learnt quite a bit about him. Like how he also wrote, which is what led her to letting him stay in the first place. His favorite color was Blue, like the sky, and the most intriguing bit of information sh had picked up on, was that he was absolutely Deaf. which had misled her for the longest time considering how fluent he was in conversation, which resulted in several days of... antics... between the two.

"And yeah, I saved a life, thanks for asking." Asis stated before taking the spot across from the Librarian.

"Oh, well there's a first." The Librarian closed the book and slid it to the side as Asis pulled the blue tome closer.

"Cheerful as ever Gemini..." Asis called the Librarian by name as he resumed writing in the blue tome, the ink shimmering as the pages filled. "I brought back some coffee if you'd like."

Gemini beamed as he pulled out the small bag filled with small brown rounds, they mocked each other frequently, but damn it, he was thoughtful. taking the bag from his hand, she tested it's weight, a pound... and a half... pure... He even got quality beans... She was going to have to repay him by making it along with a damn good breakfast in the morning.

"yep, You like."

Asis smirked as he waited for another page to dry. Gemini pretended not to her the deaf man as She put the coffee away. whistling an old tune just to spite him as she came back, eliciting an oh so satisfying groan from him. they conversed until the moon began to rise, Gemini was just about to recommend turning in for the night when the door opened, startling Gemini enough to make her jump. Though Since Asis had his back to the door and he couldn't hear anything he just glanced at her oddly before turning to the door.

"Cowardly Dastard..."

A short figure walked in, shivering from the cold night, stepping into the light both the people sitting at the table recognized her

"Ah your Highness! what are you doing here this late?" Gemini stood up and bowed curtly.

Asis however, stayed sitting, glancing at the woman who had killed the brigand earlier. showing no such formality to Ariana.

"Highness?"

Ariana caught eyes with Asis, it took a minute before she recognised him.

"You! your the Man from this morning!"

She stepped forward at him, resulting with an extreme lack of reaction from him Asis simply nodded before resuming to write in his tome, facing the opposite way from her as she tried to converse with him. which lasted several moments before Gemini gripped her shoulder.

"your Highness... your wasting your breath... He's tired and can't hear you..." She snapped her fingers an inch from his ear "you see, Asis is, well, deaf to the world... unless he sees you talking, face to face, this conversation will go nowhere."

Ariana sighed, clearly tuckered out as well as she pulled out a chair. "Of course..."

"Your Highness... may I ask why you are here? it's far too late to simply be taking a stroll..." Gemini took the seat across from hers as she asked.

"Oh... well, you see..."

* * *

"Shut up Sly, just shut up. Please..."

Tawnya had already had enough of her younger cousins younger antics, their job was to find Ariana before the shit hit the fan, and all Cooper was doing was slowing her down and dragging them places they had already been.

"Aw Relax, Ariana's going to be fine, you need to loosen up a bit."

"Well Cooper, there will be plenty of time to 'relax' once we make sure she's alright, so please, Shut the Hell up."

Thade finally managed to get him to follow along without whining like a small child. Tawnya was tempted to hug the man already, but there were more important things to do. She had to find Her friend before anything went wrong, and... wait, why is there a crowd over there by the port? that wasn't normal.

"Hey! you guys work in the castle right?" A villager had exited the group and approached them.

"Huh? er... Yes. Why?"

"Oh Grand! We were really hoping for your help, Lady!"

Tawnya stumbled over her words as she chose a response... or at least tried too. she just stammered until Thade interjected

"These two are frightfully busy sir, but I believe I could be able to help?"

The young Villager nodded happily "Well Thanks a ton! It'll be easier to show you though..."

Tawny caught his eye at the last second and gave him a pleading look, which he seemed to understand, as he turned to Sly

"Sly, could you come help write this down for me?"

Tawnya left quickly before Sly could get a few words in, though she could guess what he would be saying, but now she could look for Ariana without any more interruptions. now all that was left was to find out where she would go. The only problem with that... She had no idea where she went or who she could be with... and she calls herself a friend...

* * *

It was hard to hear most of her story with the deaf mans snoring, and no amount of yelling or able shaking would change that, but Gemini got the gist of it. Their beloved King had made an attempt oh his own life. It was the first she'd heard of it, though it wasn't surprising.

"Milady... if you'd find it satisfactory, you could spend the night here." Gemini nodded over towards Asis "Whats one more really?"

Ariana opened her mouth to respond, but stopped still and turned towards the door, as she did so Asis got up, surprisingly active despite just falling asleep. Gemini had no Idea what was going on until the door broke open and the splinters littered the ground, several armed soldiers were ransacking the library. Asis tosses her an elegant red tome that she read ever so quickly, singing a line through the mess, opening a pathway for them to get to work. Both Ariana and Asis lunging in from the sides, holding the Library as they attempted to storm in.

"these aren't Bigands!"

"Oh gee! Ya think!" Gemini shouted at the blue haired man as he advanced towards the door, the numbers thinning, though not by much, they were all able to advance to the doorway, noticing the utter chaos of their situation, hundreds, but not quite thousands of people were running up and down the roads, most civilians, but a large number of mysteriously armed soldiers, their insignia unfamiliar, but battle chants were loud and common to them. and of them Gemini deduced one thing.

"For Valm!" wasn't something she'd want to hear again.


End file.
